I play video games and review them.

Archive for the tag “the sopranos”

It’s a time of darkness for the House of Forrester. House Stark has fallen and Ramsay Snow, the illegitimate son of Roose Bolton, sided with the rival house of Whitehill. Can the House of Forrester survive Ramsay Snow and restore themselves to former glory?

This is HBO’s second attempt to enter the gaming world, the first one being The Sopranos video game, which was a failure. Now Telltale attempts to bring Game of Thrones into the gaming world, HBO’s new cash cow. The game starts out at the Red Wedding, which is where, as many Game of Thrones fans know, Rob Stark dies. Since the lord of the Forresters and the main heir perish as well, a child inherits the responsibilities.

Sadly, that’s usually how things went down during the time period the game models itself after. Apparently, boys who haven’t gone through puberty made better rulers than fully-grown women. Though I do like how the game shows that things are changing and how hard it is for Ethan, the new lord, to follow in his father’s footsteps at such a young age when all he wants to do is keep playing with his siblings. Even if his fate is unavoidable which, I admit, almost made me cry. As for what that is, keep in mind that you’re dealing with Ramsay Snow.

For those of you unfamiliar with Game of Thrones, Ramsay Snow is someone who skins people alive in his spare time.

Definitely not someone you want to get on the bad side of.

As I mentioned, Ramsay Snow makes a few appearances throughout the game. Let me tell you, he’s not the only Game of Thrones character who does so. One of the Forresters works as Lady Margaery’s handmaiden, so you can bet that you’ll be seeing much of the Lannisters.

I’ll admit, I knew that characters from Game of Thrones make an appearance but I thought that it would be as cameos. I had no idea that they would be a huge part of the storyline. However, I will say one thing. As scary as Cersei and Ramsay are on the show, having to deal with these people makes them far more intimidating.

The game play is standard Telltale Games. You make choices for each character you play with some of them supposedly having a huge impact on the game.

I’m not sure how big yet, since I’ve only played the first chapter. I’ve already told you that one of the characters has an unavoidable fate, no matter what you do. At some points, you can explore certain places and read the codex for background information. Unlike other Telltales games where you only take control of one character, this one let’s you control different members of the House of Forrester at different times. So far, their situation and personalities seems very similar to the Starks but I’m hoping the game will expand on the Forresters so that they’re more than just Stark copycats. You can even compare your choices with those of the other players though, let me tell you, I’ve found myself restarting the game many times over fear that I’ve made the wrong choices.

This game is intriguing but emotionally overwhelming. I give it 7 out of 10, a promising start for Telltale’s Game of Thrones adaption.

After the PC version, I concentrated on this one next. Unlike the other games, this one focuses more on the story from the book. It also has an RPG aspect that makes it unique.

Since I’m very picky about research (except when it comes to school work), I read the first Harry Potter book and viewed the first movie again. I have to admit that, compared to the later ones, this one isn’t quite as great but it’s still enjoyable. Still, what is it about these books that make them so popular? Maybe it’s because, as Bobby Bacala (The Sopranos) says, “it gives the other kids, the 98 pound weakling, some hope.” It might also be because, unlike other books targeted to children, Harry Potter is not so condescending. In many books that are aimed towards children, when the main character broke a rule no matter how minor, they were automatically caught and punished for it. This method was a way to manipulate children into being obedient robots. In these books, sometimes Harry is rewarded for breaking rules or he’s punished. Sometimes, he doesn’t get caught at all. However, it might be because books in the UK aren’t as condescending as books in the US. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.

As I said, this game is the most loyal to the book with a few differences. For one thing, it’s Hermione who tells Harry about Snape instead of Percy, which makes absolutely no sense considering that Hermione knows as much about the teachers as Harry does while Percy’s been there for five years. Some scenes follow the book exactly and yet seem out of place, such as McGonagall showing up out of nowhere to take twenty points from Slytherin and Draco not even objecting to that whatsoever. Sometimes it gets the characters wrong, such as having Draco give Harry a prize for beating him when Draco is a sore loser. Another thing is that makes this game notable is that it’s the only one to have you attend History of Magic. Don’t worry, all you do is get sent to Diagon Alley to retrieve a card.

The game play is RPG like which separates it from the other ones in the series. You run into magic clouds and get into a battle with various monsters. The more experience points you gain, the more you level up. If you use a spell enough times you can also have it upgraded. Oh, and you can collect wizard cards and card combinations you can use to aid you in battle.

To me, this seems out of place because RPG elements don’t really suit Harry Potter. I prefer learning spells in classes and going through the obstacle courses in other games because it feels more like you’re in a magical school. Did I mention that this is the only game where Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw could win the House Cup rather than automatically losing to Slytherin if you don’t have enough points?

This game is loyal but out of place. I give it 3 out of 10; it’s unique but not in a good way.